You have written a great book, and now you wonder what to do next. You have submitted your book to publishers and agents, but the ones that could really help you have not responded. You are now faced with either handing over your life to someone you do not really trust, or trying to print and sell the books yourself. The months turn into years. Your book release date and your life slip away.

You have been bombarded with come-on letters from companies claiming to be publishers. You've even discovered a new term, "vanity agents." They too are charlatans, have no credentials of any significance, have never represented a New York Times bestseller, and have no serious personal connections with the major publishers.

They do not follow the legitimate guidelines of the publishing industry, where the agent takes a percentage of the author’s royalty after the books have sold. They will not be able to connect you to a major publisher, and they will not sell your manuscript. In addition, because of that, they ask you for money up-front.

Maybe you have already been taken to the cleaners and are now looking for the high road, the real path for real authors. You are exhausted and need professional help. But where do you turn?

Does this sound like you? Many authors, unfortunately, would answer yes. But it does not need to be that way. There are still places of refuge where there is reality if you are willing to seek it. The publishing industry, after all, is a real nuts-and-bolts structure made up of vendors, agents, managers, buyers and sellers, TV shows, the media . . . and of course, reviewers and readers. There are actually systems, paths, formulas, and good and bad approaches. But, unless you are a highly educated professional in the publishing arena, the publishing world is one of the most difficult to break into. For the most part, it is who you know and what you know that make the difference. It is a multibillion dollar industry. Wherever there is this much money, there are always con artists trying to get a piece of it.

You can ponder and research for months or years and watch your life go by as you try to comb your way through the rabbit trails of slick advertising, promising letters, and dead-ends. On the other hand, God forbid, you may already be pondering a partnership with a company that seems legitimate, but will turn out to be yet another con artist. On behalf of the author, The Author’s Workshop debunks all con artists and their schemes. For an author to set their feet on the high road, they must first get out of the snake pit. (Jeffery Cram, PhD)

Your inner voice tells you that something is wrong, but you do not have the tools, the knowledge, and the experience to wade through the murky waters of charlatans that prey on ever-hopeful authors. Or sadly, you give up and put your manuscript and life's work in your dresser drawer.